Matchbox
by Iaragon
Summary: REPOSTED. Lupin's got anger issues. She's also got Kurama-issues. Why? Well, he freaks her out. And she's pretty sure he's a sadist. KuramaOC. RR.
1. Persistent Alarms Result in Raving Teens

_A/N: _I can't believe I'm doing this. I mean really, really can't believe it. People, your persistence has won me over, and due to your requests I have decided - GRUDGINGLY - to re-post Matchbox.

GAH. I really don't like this story anymore. I mean, I wrote it in my early high school years! It's so...so...GAH. But you guys keep asking for it, and I've finally caved. I'm editing it as I repost it, just enough so that I don't shudder violently in horror every time I open up the document. Your feedback is welcome of course, but if someone comes on and flames this fic, well, I WROTE IT WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN. SHAZZAM.

Then again, it's sort-of-kind-of-MAYBE nice to revisit these characters and stuff. But only SORT OF :)

That being said, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and please proceed to read.

* * *

**Persisent Alarms Result in Raving Teens**

"Good morning folks, it's another chilly day in Tokyo and you're sharing it with your favorite morning announcer, Jerry! Let's get those kids up up up and out of-,"

The sudden break in the silence was abruptly silenced by a tan fist slithering out of the bundle of covers. The bundle of blankets then proceeded to flop over and snuggle further into the mattress.

Ahh, peace.

"No accidents on the roads today so all should be clear on your way to work-,"

With an agitated growl a head poked out of the mountain of covers and slammed down with heavy force on the poor unsuspecting clock. Lupin glared at it for a full minute, having a stare down with the glowing green numbers. Finally, satisfied it would keep quiet, she again rolled into her warm colours.

"In sports today the Kyoto Spitfires stole the g-,"

"FINE!!"

Lupin stumbled out of bed and flicked the radio off once again before moving in a weary daze to the washroom. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Lupin brushed her teeth quickly and threw on a pair of black pants, along with a white blouse. Lupin always kept her black gloves on. A little smile flitted over her features as she then put on her black fisherman's hat.

Sock-sliding out of her room, Lupin made it down the hall and to the kitchen. As she walked past the table, she kissed her fingers and pressed them to a picture frame casually, as she did every day.

"Morning _onii-san, kaa-san, otou-san_," she said, opening the fridge and peeking inside. She stuck her tongue out in distaste at the options available and shut it again. Lupin picked up her waiting book bag and strung her headphones around her neck, glancing around the empty house once before turning and walking out the door.

Before stopping quite abruptly.

"MY SHOES!!"

Like a black blur Lupin tore back into the house and to the living room, immediately spotting one white sneaker. Hopping on one foot she searched around frantically for the other, tripping over the couch in the process.

"Here shoe-y shoe-y shoe-KYA!!" Lupin glared at the couch as her shoe was finally put on, and then groaned in the hopeless search for her other. The wagging of a tail against the pale carpet caught her attention, and she looked up at the big black husky sitting in the kitchen doorway.

With her shoe.

"Kohaku!" Lupin yelled, scrambling up. "Give me that!"

As soon as he saw his mistress coming, Kohaku gave a loud 'woof' and dashed away out the door.

"KOHAKU! _You get back here!!"_

Disregarding everything Lupin tore after the dog, who was running flat out down the street, tail wagging like mad. Damn, that dog could run! Lupin soon found herself jumping fences, clearing garbage pails, and narrowly getting run over by a few cars in the private streets of her neighborhood.

All the while yelling at the dog like an idiot.

"KOHAKU WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO WALK STRAIGHT FOR DAYS!!"

Kohaku, of course, was oblivious to whatever she was saying in that weird human language of hers and continued running. Coming within attacking distance of her target, Lupin leaped up with a loud battlecry and pounced on Kohaku mid-stride, clamping her arms around the thick torso of her pet and digging her one protected foot into the concrete. Pulled to a halt, Kohaku sat within her embrace, tail still wagging happily.

"That would be mine," she said, grabbing the toe of her sneaker. But, of course, Kero decided she was playing tug-of-war.

She really had to send this dog to military school.

"No - come on - give - me - the – shoe," suddenly they both let go of the shoe at the same time, making it fly down the sidewalk. Kohaku yipped cheerfully when his master growled at him. Lupin crawled after it, muttering irritably, and reached for the battered footwear. Just as her fingers touched it, she noticed the pair of feet sitting just behind the shoe.

Huh?

Slowly, Lupin turned her purple gaze upwards to meet a pair of eyes that literally caused her to shy away. Dark green orbs bore into her own. They were sharp, calculating, focused.

Deadly.

"Sorry," she murmured quickly. She dropped her head a bit, and without waiting tore her gaze from his own and turned back around, hopping back to Kohaku as she put her shoe on. She shivered, but didn't look back.

That man was scary.

"Lupin!"

Lupin looked up towards the girl waving her down. "What, terrorizing strangers now?"

Lupin mock-glared at her classmate, watching Kohaku trot off after assuring his master

had an escort.

"Very funny. What's up?"

Mukashi-san shrugged, slipping her hands in her pockets as they walked down the street to school. "We have that presentation at the private school today, right?"

"Joy," Lupin answered unenthusiastically. She folded her arms over her chest and looked up at the overcast sky. "How I'd hate to go to a private school."

"I know what you mean," Mukashi-san smiled in response. "I don't think a private school would suit you either, Kouyuu-san. You're too much of a rebel."

"'Rebel'," Lupin repeated, disgruntled. Mukashi-san giggled as they entered the school's front doors, and Lupin smiled back at her. Mukashi-san was one of the few people in the school that didn't stutter when Lupin spoke to them. The black-haired girl wasn't sure if it was because Mukashi was unaware of Lupin's reputation, or if she just didn't care, but Lupin appreciated it in any case.

As they entered the hallway, a couple of other girls in their year waved to Mukashi-san, but reared back a bit when Lupin glanced absently in their direction.

"G-g-good morning, Mukashi-san, K-Kouyuu-san," stammered one girl with pigtails. Lupin looked at them for a moment before focusing on Mukashi-san, who greeted the girls cheerfully.

"_Jaa_, Mukashi-san," Lupin raised a hand in a small wave goodbye. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, Kouyuu-san, see you in class!"

Lupin walked away from them, ignoring the girls' voices behind her as they whispered nervously to Mukashi-san.

"Mukashi-san, why were you walking with her?"

"Are you in trouble?"

"Do you owe her money or something?"

"_Nani?_ Kouyuu-san is very kind!"

With a small sigh, Lupin found her locker and switched shoes before pulling her books from the shelf and walking to her next class. As usual, she found her seat near the window and waited for class to started, doodling absently on her notebook. She glanced again at the overcast sky outside, and sighed.

_Just another day, _she thought boredly.

* * *

Finally the bell rang, signalling the end of school, and Lupin slowly got her books together as the rest of the class scrambled to get out of the classroom. Finally, she tucked her books under her arm, rubbing the back of her neck and stifling a yawn as she made her way to the door, as usual the last one out. As soon as she stepped outside the threshold, a long arm dangled a coffee just above her head. Instantly grasping the coffee with a surprised 'oh?', she followed the arm to the tall body of Kouyuu Kisuke, her elder cousin, leaning against the wall outside her classroom with a decidedly flat expression on his face. Then again, his face always looked like that.

Lupin blinked at him. "Kisuke!" she said in surprise, as she brought the warm coffee cup to her chest and shut the classroom door behind her. "I thought you had practise tonight?" Kisuke only blinked at her, bland expression still in place. He was an incredibly good looking bad-boy, much to the delight of the school's female population. There wasn't much Kisuke _hadn__'__t _gotten into trouble for at school, and this year alone he had already suffered three suspensions, two of them in-school. Much to the displeasure of Lupin's aunt and uncle, Kisuke's parents and head of their family, Kisuke was often called the black sheep of the family even though he was supposed to eventually be head of it. Despite this, Lupin had never known her cousin to be mean or cruel, at least not to her; he always appeared so mellow to her. But even she couldn't deny Kisuke's complete disregard for school work, or family affairs, or even in becoming family head at all. In fact, the only thing Lupin knew Kisuke to be dedicated to was the piano. It was his passion.

"Cancelled," Kisuke pushed himself away from the wall and fell into step next to her, as they made their way down the emptying hallways. "Sensei's got a cold."

"That's too bad," Lupin commented, but couldn't completely wipe the smile off her face. She hated Kisuke's strict piano teacher, a strict old woman that treated Kisuke like dirt. She didn't know how he could stand the woman's constant ridicule every day. Lupin took a sip of the coffee and savoured the warmth that sloshed over her tongue. "Mm…this is good. Guatemalan, right?"

"Sure," Kisuke shrugged and lifted his hand to sit on Lupin's head. He ruffled her hair through her hat. "Isn't that presentation today at Meiou?"

"Aa," Lupin agreed, glaring vehemently at him as she paused to remove her hat and reorder her hair. Kisuke was still staring at the path ahead absently, oblivious to her dirty looks. "In a half an hour. I was about to walk there now. Did you want to come?"

"I'll walk you there," her cousin said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Besides, your sense of direction is absolutely hopeless so there's no chance you'd be able to get there in time on your own."

"_Nani?_" Lupin demanded irritably. "That's a complete exaggeration! I couldn't possibly get lost from here to Meiou Private School, it's only three blocks away! And don't ridicule your own flesh and blood so offhandedly!"

"Age four, got lost in the grocery store trying to eat all the free samples," Kisuke said in a bored tone. Lupin leapt back. "Age six, got lost at the waterpark. Age twelve, got lost on the first day at your new school, which was only three minutes from your house, age fourteen-," A pile of textbooks connected with the back of Kisuke's head.

"I _get it,_" Lupin muttered, struggling to hold all of her textbooks with her coffee occupying one hand. Kisuke rubbed the back of his head absently and stared at her from beneath his black bangs. Lupin glared back and marched out the school doors. "Come on, we're going to Meiou."

"Meiou's the other way," Kisuke muttered as she turned left onto the sidewalk. He trailed slowly after her. Lupin turned on her heel, face red.

"I KNEW THAT!"

* * *

Chapter one done.

GAH.

onii-san - big brother

okaa-san - mother

otou-san - father

san - honorific, used for someone you would consider above your station, or someone you're acquaintances with, also used in place of Miss, Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc


	2. Good Samaritans Should Stick to

_A/N: _So.

Apparently, when I said "I'll be editing this story as I go along", what I _really _meant was "I will be doing an entire upheaval in order to have some semblance of pride by the time the story has been posted from beginning to end". Sorry about the wait, yes yes yes, I shall give you a whole list of excuses if you want it, but I'm sure you've heard them all before (laughs nervously).

Also!! Kisuke is a new character, for those of you who had read the "original" Matchbox. I thought I'd tell you now to avoid confusion, since I got a couple reviewers noting Kisuke's prescence in the story. I hope you will come to find him as awesome as I do.

Also!! I am changing the rating of this story to "M" for Mature. There will be lemon(s). I am of age to post/write/read lemons, and I am giving you fair warning now. If you're underage, please don't read the lemony content. I will warn readers at the beginning of chapters with lemons/citrusy content.

Read on, comrades, the First Meeting!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

PS - Please ignore my weird chapter titles. I've been watching Gintama. (Which I don't own either).

* * *

**Good Samaritans Should Stick to Helping Old Ladies Cross Roads**

"Ne, Kisuke," Lupin began slowly. "I know you're tall and everything…but could you stop using my head as an armrest?"

"Hmm?" Kisuke, walking next to her down the street, glanced at her, his mouth turning downwards into the slightest pout. His arm sat lazily on the crown of her head, much like it would on the arm of a couch. "You're the perfect height."

"_That'__s nice and everything but I think you__'__re missing the point here."_

"You're right. I'm sorry, short-half-grown-cousin. Were you waiting for some other guy to come up and put his arm here? Maa, but that's not very romantic-,"

"You _baka, _that's not right at all! You are so ridiculously off-the-mark, how can you look yourself in the mirror in the morning?!"

"I don't own a mirror."

Lupin pointed a finger at him accusingly. "Don't tell me such blatant stories so matter-of-factly! Who would fall for such a line when you look like _that?!"_

Kisuke blinked at her, a fresh breeze blowing his shaggy black hair away from his face. On the other side of the street, a passing middle-aged woman fainted. "Ah? Look like what?"

Lupin stared at him with a deadpanned expression. "You disgust me," the black-haired girl said plainly, before continuing down the sidewalk.

"If I was ugly, you'd tell me, right?"

"Shut up-," Lupin hugged her book to her chest tightly, eyebrow ticking slightly. "Anyways, we have to get to Meiou in time for the presentation. Why is it taking so long? I thought it only took ten minutes to get to Meiou from our school."

"About that," Kisuke, still standing where Lupin had left him, face blank. "We passed the school five minutes ago."

"_What?"_

_

* * *

  
_

"You just looked so deep in thought when you were walking, I didn't want to disturb you."

"I've closed my ears to your blasphemy," Lupin said placidly as they walked through the doors of Meiou Private School. Kisuke snorted softly, and looked away quickly when Lupin glanced sharply at him. Together they walked into the Office just inside the school and Kisuke allowed her to step forward to speak with the secretary. After a moment at her computer, the young woman looked up and smiled in greeting. "Hello there. May I help you?"

"Aa, we're students from Seishou Highschool," Lupin motioned to herself and Kisuke. "A number of us are supposed to be doing a presentation for the second year students to introduce the new Music program here at Meiou, which stemmed from Seishou's success with music students."

"Ah, yes! A few of your peers have already arrived." The woman smiled. "The presentation will be taking place in the auditorium, please just follow the signs in the hallways."

Lupin nodded her thanks and turned away, cutting Kisuke a cold glare when he sidled up next to her and took her elbow. "Now, keep close, my poor cousin. You see that large sign with the arrow over there? That's pointing us in the direction we're going to go-,"

Lupin's fist connected with the side of his head. "Stop treating me like an invalid, _you bastard_."

Kisuke blinked innocently at her. "That hurt," he mumbled in a wounded voice.

"I can make it there fine on my own." Lupin turned a blind eye to the watery gaze he pinned her with. "Besides. You're not even performing with the rest of the music program."

"Being in front of people makes me nervous," Kisuke intoned with a straight face. Lupin scoffed slightly but didn't move away when Kisuke looped his arm through hers, and managed to suffer through another ruffle of her hair. "I like hearing you play too."

"I'm not at your level, though," Lupin responded. "If these Meiou kids were to be really impressed, it'd be by you."

"You're fine," Kisuke waved a hand dismissively. "And I'm not in the school music program, you know that. I take private lessons – that wouldn't properly _represent _the school talent, right?"

"Whatever."

"Right."

They entered the auditorium a few moments later; Kisuke released an impressed whistle at the polished wood floors and state-of-the-art digital scoreboard. Not to mention the huge stage at the far end of the gymnasium, taking up the entire wall with heavy plum-coloured curtains drawn across the impressive stage. Rows upon rows of collapsible chairs had been assembled in meticulous lines across the room, all of them facing the massive stage. Even as the cousins stood at the back of the gym, second year students were filing into the room from an entrance closer to the stage, quietly and obediently. In their standard magenta uniforms, they were almost indeterminable from one another.

"Japanese and their uniforms," Kisuke sighed in aloft remorse.

"You think the others are backstage?" Lupin inquired, uninterested in the students.

"Probably." Kisuke's gaze drifted to the scoreboard clock. "We're five minutes early. Need a drink or anything?"

"I should probably use the washroom," Lupin nodded to the door they'd come through. "There was one on the way here."

Kisuke nodded and followed her back out. He leant against the wall outside the women's washroom as she went in. When Lupin was inside, she checked the stalls for other students, but there were none. Assured she was alone, Lupin returned to the large, push-open door and slid the lock into place before she moved to the closest sink and leant against it, staring at her reflection.

"Stage fright is for grade schoolers," Lupin told her reflection frankly. Safely out of Kisuke's sight, Lupin's breathing became a little uneven as she struggled not to give in to hyperventilating. Her eyes narrowed at the mirror image. "Grade schoolers. Stage fright – is for – grade schoolers."

What she was feeling was not stage fright, Lupin fought to convince herself. It was more a…light apprehension. Lupin's face felt warm; as she watched her reflection, she could see her cheeks flooding with colour. Her stomach churned unpleasantly, and Lupin scowled at herself. Out of habit, her hand lifted to curl around the fang pendant she wore for a necklace. It made her feel marginally better.

"You're not in grade school, Kouyuu Lupin," she pointed a finger at her reflection in a chastising manner. "You're a _grown woman. _Shape up!"

Lupin had performed this woman-to-mirror pep talk enough times to know her stomach ache and redness would subside as a result, but the real problem was her hands. They shook, just like they always did, and no amount of sheer will on her part would get them to subside. Holding the pendant helped her calm down, like it always did, and Lupin focused on taking deep breaths for a long moment.

Sneering at the girl in the mirror, Lupin almost turned away when she froze a step from the sink. Quickly, she whirled back to it and stared, wide-eyed, at her reflection. She cursed loudly. "The contacts!" Quickly, Lupin searched her pockets and produced from within their depths a small contact case. How had she forgotten to put them on this morning?! Had people noticed? No, Lupin was quick to assure herself, studying her own violet-coloured gaze in the mirror, people rarely made eye contact with her at school. They were all too busy being nervous of her. The only exception was Kisuke and Mukashi-san, but Kisuke already knew about her strange eye colour and Mukashi-san – well, she hadn't mentioned anything this morning. Perhaps she hadn't noticed?

"How could she not notice," Lupin muttered angrily to herself, carefully popping in one coloured contact, then the other. Lupin glared at her newly brown-eyed reflection. "She was probably only being polite. _Fuck._"

A glance at her wristwatch told Lupin she didn't have the time to be freaking out over this. Lupin stuck the empty contact case back in her pocket and unlocked the bathroom door, heading out into the hallway and turning to where she'd left Kisuke leaning against the wall –

He wasn't there.

_Stupid, unreliable blood relation, _Lupin grumbled to herself, glancing up and down the hall. There was nobody around. No matter, Lupin assured herself stubbornly. She could just follow the conveniently placed arrows. Look, there was one on the wall right across from the washrooms, how convenient! This wasn't so hard!

Lupin followed the arrow's suggestion and turned left from the washrooms to follow a long hallway all the way down. She was feeling pretty smug about herself, and was inwardly preparing a little gloating speech about Kisuke's lack of faith in her when she hit a roadblock.

Lupin stared dumbly at the dilemma before her.

There was a fork in the hallway, with one corridor slanting to the left from where she stood, and the other, to the right, creating a "v". The arrow which she had been expecting to guide her down the correct path had been posted on the wall directly between these two hallways, taped to the wall so that it pointed towards the ceiling. In any other situation, the picture would clearly be signifying that she continue straight - but here and now, it gave no indication of which of the two hallways Lupin was meant to follow.

"Uh oh."

What kind of sick joke was this?! Stupid private school!

Lupin tried to recall the way she had taken with Kisuke when they found the gymnasium the first time. Was it the right corridor? Neither hallway seemed to have any distinctive features that would help to jog her memory. Damn it, if she hadn't been bickering with Kisuke then she definitely would have remembered and dear kami this is not helping her nerves –

A second before the man behind her rested his hand on her shoulder, she whipped her head around to stare at him, instinctively obeying that little tingle up her spine. The redheaded man – a student, Lupin noted, unable to ignore that loud magenta uniform – looked momentarily surprised, his eyebrow rising slightly at her quick glance before he lowered his hand. His violently red hair surprised her, even as she spun to face him and took a step back, maintaining a healthy distance. She wondered just what cause he was rebelling against to dye his hair such a vibrant shade.

"You look lost," the Rebel said, his pleasant expression alarmingly artificial, "Are you in need of assistance, miss?"

Getting over the shock of his hair colour, Lupin locked eyes with the young man for the first time. They were beautifully green, almond shaped, deeply set on his face and surprisingly well-matched with his outlandish hair. They were also calm, rather impenetrable, and, beneath that pleasant sheen, absolutely indifferent to her.

She'd seen this person, she realized with a jolt. She'd seen him this morning.

"Nothankyou," the words flew from her mouth in one quick breath as Lupin turned abruptly and squared her shoulders as she marched toward the right corridor. She had a good feeling about the right corridor. She didn't need some dumb redhead to –

"The auditorium," the man's voice sounded behind her, just as pleasant as before, and it was giving her the creeps, "Is not that way."

Lupin froze, but didn't turn back. She mouthed wordlessly for a second, aghast. Finally, she turned to him in shock. "How-,"

"I figured from your lack of uniform that you're a visitor to our school," he smiled at her, and Lupin could only be amazed at the flawlessness of the feigned expression. "You must be one of today's performers, correct? Therefore, you would be looking for the auditorium."

Lupin paused, and narrowed eyes at him warily. Damn him, his logic held no fault. Setting her jaw, she turned from him and started down the left corridor.

"Not that way, either." he sounded slightly amused now, but no less polite.

The dark-haired girl was quickly losing her patience with this redheaded stranger. She whipped around yet again, rather exasperated. Was he trying to trick her or something? She gestured to the large arrow tape to the wall, glaring at him, shoving her uneasiness to the back of her mind with practiced ease. "The _sign says-_,"

"Ah, about those," The redhead lifted his hand, and Lupin noticed for the first time the pile of posters he held, all of them printed with arrows identical to the one she was pointing at. "It appears one of the younger students recently took it upon himself to rearrange the directional markers." his hand fell gracefully back to his side; he regarded her kindly through those sharp eyes.

Abruptly, music began to filter through the hallway, reaching Lupin's ears. She was late. Damn. Huffing softly, her hands curled into fists as she frowned and started past the redhead, going back the way she came. Fine, she would just follow the music to her destination, she thought with simmering ire. Her nerves, mingled with her unpleasant exchange with this stupid Meiou overachiever was driving her to -

Lupin realized she was being followed half a second before the man spoke again. "I can escort you to the gym-,"

She was getting really tired of turning to face this man. He was like the Good Samaritan from Hell. She brought her hand up and pointed a finger directly at his chest, hand poised like a gun. Lupin was almost surprised by how suddenly the man stopped. He glanced down at her finger "aimed" at him, his expression hardening for the briefest of moments before it softened into a look of unflappable calm. His eyes met hers.

"Whoever you are," Lupin said slowly and deliberately, getting caught up in her anger. _Just like always, _a snide voice in the back of her head jeered. "Leave me alone."

The man's expression didn't falter. He looked completely unafraid of her, something that Lupin might have found refreshing if that hadn't been the reaction she was going for. With one last strained glare, Lupin whipped around and followed the music coming form the auditorium to find her destination.

She could feel his eyes on her back as she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

The music concert went well, arguably. No one chewed Lupin out for being late - in fact, a couple of her musically-talented peers seemed rather surprised that she'd shown up at all instead of skipping the event. Lupin was calm by the time she went on-stage, but that wasn't any real surprise. Lupin had never known herself to hold onto her anger for very long. She knew her own temper well - her anger was brief, but violent and unstoppable. The piece she played was fairly complicated, which only helped Lupin to focus by forcing her attention to the sheet music laid on the piano stand. Still, Lupin made sure she didn't glance at the crowd even before or after playing her piece. They applauded accordingly and Lupin was all too ready to go home as she walked down the stairs backstage towards the rear exit. She was half-surprised, half-relieved to see Kisuke standing next to the doorway, his short black hair taking on a red sheen in the light of the "exit" sign over the threshold.

"Where did you disappear to?" Lupin asked idly.

"Sorry," Kisuke said, not looking even slightly repentant - but then again, Kisuke rarely looked anything other than bored. "I got accosted by some senior girls."

Unsurprised, Lupin merely shrugged at his apology and decided not to comment when Kisuke, falling in step next to her, rested a hand on the crown of her head with a fond ruffle of her hair. "Sounded good," he noted, voice softening a little.

"Hm," Lupin was just glad she could breathe properly again. Already, she could feel herself relaxing into her own skin. Kisuke wordlessly led her out of the private school. Once they in a familiar part of the neighbourhood, Lupin turned to look at her cousin. "I have to get groceries. Are you heading home?"

"Aa." Kisuke watched her pull her mp3 player from her pocket and carefully place her earbuds into their respective places. He cocked his head about, eyebrows rising slightly at her. "Your eyes were different earlier."

Lupin froze, her finger inches away from the "On" button. She looked up at Kisuke, faking nonchalance. "I forgot to put contacts on this morning."

"You look better without them," her cousin sighed. He paused. "You're beautiful," he added with a slight wince at how motherly it sounded.

"My self-confidence is fine," Lupin remarked dryly. "Relax."

Kisuke sighed again, this time in long-suffering. He turned down a residential street, waving offhandedly. "Dinner's at six," he called back to her, "Dad says he's got something for you."

Lupin perked up instantly. "A present," she crooned to herself as her cousin disappeared down the bend. Wondering what it could be, Lupin turned her mp3 player on and continued down the street towards the grocery store.

* * *

_Baka: _idiot, stupid

_Aa: _yes, sure, uh huh

BTW, I have taken Japanese in school before, so you can invest confidence in the translations I provide at the bottom of pages. I try not to use Japanese _too _much, but I want to keep it a bit manga-like in that way. If at any time you think I'm starting to lay it on too thick with the foreign languages, lemme know, and this otaku will ease up!!

Please review! I read all the reviews for the previous chapter before I post my next one, and they usually spur me to add more.

TBC.


	3. Crosswalks Were Invented for a Reason

Things to Address from Reviews/Last Chapter: My veteran readers may have noticed that Lupin plays the piano instead of singing. I did this for a couple of reasons, **number one** because writers get in trouble all the time for songfics. I think one of my stories was actually removed once, long ago, for being a song fic. I can't remember. **Reason two **is that while I love Lupin as much as the rest of you, I'm trying to make her somebody more relatable to readers. Having an amazing voice is a talent few have, and even less people feel comfortable sharing that talent with others, and even _less _people get famous via their voices.

Lupin still sings, but it's more in-the-shower, cleaning-house, cooking-dinner singing than "I'm a rockstar" singing.

Also, and this is important - sometimes I use Lupin's quick temper for comic relief, because she's so easily irritated. But Lupin is in the recovering stages of chronic anger. She suffers from _real _anger problems. She sees a councillor. She is recovering from a very violent and disastrous stage in her life. This in mind, Lupin will probably do things - most of them in the earlier chapters of this fic, most of them unjustifiable - that you will not like her for. She will probably seem unreasonable. But you can't like everybody all the time, I think.

This chapter is short...sorry, heheheh....

* * *

**Crosswalks Were Invented for a Reason**

Grocery shopping was one of those things Lupin got excited about doing, but was entirely clueless about. No matter how many times she shopped for herself, she seemed to get lost in the dilemmas of name brands versus cheap stock, the seemingly unlimited number of flavours everything seemed to come in these days, and the nutrition facts- _how she hated the traitorous nutrition facts. _The workers at the grocery store were used to her perusing through for hours on end, staring blankly at the stocked shelves and mumbling incoherently to herself.

Which is why no one turned their head to stare at the girl who was standing in the dairy section, having a staring contest with the eggs for sale.

Why were there so many different kinds, Lupin thought to herself in frustration. She eyed the seemingly innocent foam crates and cursed her own inability to decide. They were just eggs! She should just grab one and leave!

But the ones to the left were all about Omega-3. What the hell was Omega-3, and was it vital to her survival as a human being? And just because that brand _advertised _having Omega-3, did that mean the other brands didn't have it? Wouldn't that suggest genetic enhancement? Was that even possible with eggs? Probably, those crazy scientists - but then, which was better, all-natural or genetically enhanced eggs? If she chose the genetically-enhanced ones, would that mean she was also supporting things like cloning and artificial insemination? Lupin had never considered that. And this was still running on a hypothesis that not all eggs carried Omega-3s, but maybe they did and this particular brand was just trying to ---

"Who cares about the stupid omega-3," Lupin sniffed. Okay, scratch that brand. She would get regular eggs, for the sake of her sanity. Lupin started to reach for a carton, but froze in the process. Wait. Brown or white? Was there a difference? Were brown eggs healthier than white eggs? Lupin knew brown bread was healthier than white bread, but did that apply to chickens? And brown cows made chocolate milk, but everyone knew that chocolate _eggs_ came from bunnies --- what colour did she usually get? Lupin couldn't recall. Perhaps there was a difference in taste, or maybe all the eggs were exactly the same despite their colour and Lupin was getting _way _too carried away with this -

"Oh, for kami's sake," she huffed finally. Irritated with herself, Lupin decided to use the Old Fashioned Method to decide once and for all what kind she would be purchasing today.

With utmost concentration, Lupin raised her index finger, and began to chant. "Eenie, meenie, miny, moe-," she hurriedly placed the chosen egg carton in her grocery basket and hightailed it from the dairy section before she could get sucked back in.

It took the young woman another hour to find and select the other items on her list, but finally Lupin was going through the checkout with her basket in hand. She was handing the money necessary over to the cashier when she asked that damning question with a cheery smile.

"Paper or plastic?"

"Fuck you!" Lupin snapped. "Choose one yourself!"

* * *

"Hey --- Lupin!"

Lupin glanced up, smiling despite herself as she exited the grocery store with (plastic) bags in hand. A tall teen was jogging towards her, waving brightly, still wearing his green uniform from school. Lupin evenly distributed the weight of her groceries between her two hands as the teen came to a stop in front of her, grinning.

"Yusuke," Lupin greeted. "If you're about to ask me for money-,"

"I _wasn't_," Yusuke made a show of looking offended, "I was just-,"

"And I'm not buying you flowers for Keiko again, either," she told him quickly.

"Oh." Yusuke paused, looking precariously close to pouting, before he shook his head and made a grab for her groceries. She scowled as he took the groceries, holding all of them in one hand as though they were the lightest things in the world, even though Lupin's wrists were already aching a bit from the strain. "Are you sucking up to me?" she demanded suspiciously as they set off down the sidewalk.

"Can't I do something nice without being judged? _Jeez," _Yusuke swung his arms lightly as he walked, jostling the groceries and further irritating Lupin by his show of inhuman strength. Dumb boy. What did he do when he was skipping out from school? Go to the gym?

Lupin eyed him for a moment before directing her gaze back to the path ahead. "So Yusuke," she began, "Let me guess. You and Keiko are fighting again."

Yusuke winced. "How'd you guess?"

Lupin shrugged. "It's not like its anything new. You blow her off too much," she scolded. "She'd be long gone by now if I didn't cover your ass, you know."

"Hey, hey," Yusuke started defensively. "I'm trying, alright? I got my reasons!"

Lupin folded her arms and sneered at him, to which he responded by sticking his tongue out at her. "It's the same with Kazuma," Lupin added with a fierce frown. "If I see both of you at the same time for longer than five minutes I'd consider it a miracle. I don't wanna know what you're up to," she added sharply when Yusuke opened his mouth to make up an excuse. "It's not my business; you know I don't dig like that. I just miss the two of you, that's all."

Yusuke dipped his head a little and glanced away, laughing nervously. He looked guilty. "Well, uh, y'know, it's just--," he jumped slightly when his pocket started vibrating. Grinning apologetically, he pulled something tiny from his pocket and flipped it open - half a second later he snapped it closed, frowning fiercely, and carefully separated her groceries into two lighter piles before handing them back to her, one for each hand. He was considerate in his own way, Lupin conceded reluctantly.

"Sorry, Lupin," he said, sounding rushed and distracted. "Gotta go. See you later!"

He was already dashing down the street. Lupin watched him disappear from her view with raised eyebrows, slightly shocked by his quick exit.

"Bye," she responded belatedly. Scowling slightly, Lupin shifted the groceries hanging from her hands and rolled her shoulders, thankful her home was only a short walk from the store. Lupin started walking again, focusing on the soft music filter through her ears from her mp3 player, which had been on the whole time - but at a low enough level that she had been able to block it out whilst speaking to Yusuke.

The area around her turned less urban and more rural the longer she walked, until the sidewalk gave way to dirt roads and Lupin was forced to walk carefully along the grassy slope at the side of the road. The houses were fewer and far between, most of them older homes built long before she was born - and either very large, or very small. To the right of her there was thick forestry only some thirty feet away, brushing against the back of the houses almost ominously. To Lupin, the sight of greenery was more relaxing. She felt more at ease here at the edge of the city, and even hummed a little on her walk, feeling more at home than anything.

That is, until she spied a beaten yellow truck parked in the driveway of her house.

Lupin's steps faltered for half a second as a tall male came into sight, leaning against the back bumper of his truck with arms folded, head turned in her direction though Lupin wasn't close enough to decipher his direction. She could feel the ferocity of her anger bubbling to the surface, hot, fast, and violent, in response to the man's presence. Something was tearing at her chest, making her breath quicken and her fists tighten, and her mind already whirring through the options presented to her that could hurt him the most -

Lupin's mouth was already curling into a snarl when she caught herself. She bit her lip, hard, and forced herself to resume her walk while breathing very deeply. _Ten, nine, eight…_she couldn't take her eyes off him, though, especially as his features grew more defined as the distance closed between them. _Seven, six…_Same shock of bleached blonde hair tickling the back of his collar, same hard features, same five o'clock shadow, same brown eyes. _Five, four, three, two…_He was tall, a hockey-player type; thick arms, thick neck, strong legs. He was wearing a wife-beater and black slacks, and staring at her stiffly as she made her way down the lane. _One._

He didn't _look _drunk, Lupin observed critically. But then, she wasn't close enough to smell alcohol on him. For a brief moment, she considered walking past him and ignoring him entirely, but that wasn't how one dealt with Kurohata Tamaki. Instead, she ground to a halt a few good feet from him, holding tightly to her groceries and counting backwards from ten again in her head. She could feel a burning heat in her chest inches from exploding, but she would not lapse in her recovery just for this…parasite.

"Tamaki," Lupin returned his stiff look, eyeing him warily. She was still watching for signs of inebriation.

Tamaki glanced away for a second, looking rather uneasy. When he looked back at her again, he pushed away from the truck and unfolded his arms. "Baby," he started in a pleading voice, and Lupin realised it was going to be one of _those _conversations. Lupin sighed and continued on her way to the house.

Tamaki trailed after her. "Come on, babe, just _talk _to me," he groaned, his large frame towering over her as she shifted her groceries to one hand and fumbled to pull out her keys.

"Don't wanna talk," Lupin said carefully, unlocking the door with marginally more force than necessary. Her hands shook with the desire to strike out. _Control, control, control. _"Go away, Tamaki."

"_Fine _then," he replied petulantly, leaning in her doorway as she dragged her groceries onto the kitchen counter just inside the house. "If you're gonna be so fuckin' stubborn, give me my stereo back!"

Lupin allowed herself a sneer in his direction. "Don't come in!" she snapped when he made to cross the threshold. Pinning him with her eyes, she turned away and went into the adjoining living room, returning momentarily with a ghetto blaster cradled between her arms. She shoved it into Tamaki's arm with a soft huff. "Now go away and don't come back."

Tamaki scoffed at her, shoving the ghetto blaster under one arm and fishing a cigarette out of his pocket with the other. "You say that now," he taunted, a knowing smirk on his lips as he lit his smoke. "But you'll be back for me baby, just like last time, and the time before that." He leaned towards her, releasing a puff of smoke in her face just to watch her fight not to cough in front of him. "Then we can have angry make-up sex in the back of my truck-,"

"OUT," Lupin said, doing everything within her power to stop herself from grabbing the dumb boy and bodily shoving him out the door. He left with a casual, "See ya, babe," - to which she responded with "FUCKING PARASITE," - and got into his horrendous excuse for a truck. Lupin glared at him until he had pulled out of her driveway and disappeared down the street. Hissing softly through her teeth, Lupin turned back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

Lupin lived in a modest house - "modest" being a generous description, she knew. There was a small wood porch outside her front door that had once been white, but now the paint was peeled and the wood rotting; Lupin had long been in the habit of skipping the second step, which had a large hole in it. The aged windowsills were in equally bad shape, and the front yard was nothing special; long ago, the previous owners might have had a garden lining the front of the house, but now that was only dirt and weeds. The house itself was built quite a time ago, long before Lupin was born, she was sure. It was simple enough; kitchen and living room all in one room, a bathroom, and a "master" bedroom on the first floor. There was a narrow staircase to the left of the front door when you first walked in, leading up to a loft with a large window looking into the lush backyard - that was the room Lupin liked best. She had a mattress up there, and stacks of CDs lining the windowsill where an old, beaten CD player rested - she'd picked it up at a yard sale only a few years ago. The walls were lined with tiny paper lanterns, the only source of light up there.

But there were two things Lupin liked about the house, one being the fact that her closest neighbours lived at least a quarter mile away . Her other favourite aspect of her home was the sprawling forest that laid only twenty feet from the back door.

Coming back to the task at hand, Lupin shook her head to rid herself of bothersome thoughts and turned back to her groceries. In a bad mood already, Lupin began unpacking them with more force than usual, determinedly wiping Tamaki's image from her mind. It had only been a month or so since she had cut her ties with him, and unfortunately, though her brain knew better she was still very - _physically _attracted to him. It wasn't that big of a surprise; Lupin had not started a relationship with the attractive man because of his intellect, that was for certain - with Tamaki, there were only two real emotions Lupin ever felt. Lust and anger. Lupin had met Tamaki almost half a year ago, in the depths of her own turmoil, both of them drunk out of their minds and had ended up waking up next to him the next morning in the back of his truck. Not the most romantic meeting, to say the least - but a one night stand had turned into a relationship centered on sex and alcohol, and to have gone one month cold turkey was starting to wear at her resolve to stay away. And she knew she should stay away - he was no good for her, still deeply embedded in a darker part of life that Lupin was working hard to get away from. She couldn't remember even one 'date' they'd had where they hadn't been stone drunk within the first hour.

That chapter of her life was closed, Lupin reminded herself, smoothing her hands down to her knees before resuming her chores. Closed, closed, closed. Finishing with the groceries, Lupin cut a glance at the clock on her microwave. Her aunt and uncle would be expecting her.

* * *

-- _and he was lookin' for a soul to steal --_

Her cell phone was ringing that incessantly shrill, annoying ring tone Kisuke had somehow managed to lock into her settings. _The Devil Went Down to Georgia _rang in Lupin ears as she hastily made her way into the busier side of town, cursing under her breath.

-- _and the Devil jumped up on a hickory stump and said "Boy let me tell you what" --_

She knew she was late, damn it, why did her Aunt have to keep calling her every five seconds? She was only lagging by five minutes - er, so far. And already her Aunt was probably worrying herself cross-eyed, thinking Lupin had been - been - kidnapped or gang-raped or, _for the love of all that was good, _had eloped with Tamaki (whom she had never approved of).

"Don't pick it up, woman," Lupin growled at herself. _--I bet a fiddle o' gold against your soul, 'cause I think I'm better than you --_"Don't you dare. You know what will happen. You're only a few minutes from their house - _fuck, WHY IS THIS STUPID ENGLISH SONG ON MY PHONE?!_"

Furiously, Lupin snatched the phone from her pocket and violently snapped it open, half-expecting the flip-screen to snap in her hands. She raised it to her ear with grit teeth.

"_Lupin?!" _a feminine voice, shrill with worry, blasted on high volume into Lupin's abused eardrum. "_Is that you? Where are you?! You're a whole seven minutes late! Does Hayato need to come pick you up?! Hello?! Are you there?!"_

"Aaauunt Eiimiiii," Lupin mumbled, dragging the words out tiredly. "I'm just around the block. I'll be right there. Okay?"

"Okay," her aunt's voice warbled with uncertainty. "Are you sure everything's fine? I can send Kisuke to get you if you like-,"

"You already have," Lupin said dryly, turning to cross the street only to eye the young black-haired heir sitting languidly on a street bench - smirking at her, of course. When her eyes met his, he raised a hand to his ear and mimicked talking on a phone. Lupin stuck her tongue out at him. "It's alright, Aunt Eimi. I'll be there soon." she stepped off the curb, making a rather rude gesture at her cousin that suggested imminent demise, "I'm crossing the street right now. Okay? So you can-,"

It was the way Kisuke's smile slid off his face, the way his entire body jolted suddenly, the way his eyes widened uncharacteristically, that caused Lupin to freeze mid-step and mid-word. She swallowed. Half a second later, something huge and heavy and screeching made contact with her body, and everything shattered into incoherency.

There were sensations, sounds, loud sounds, colours, pictures, she could see, hear, smell, taste, everything around her but recognize none of it. Then the sounds cut short, were muffled, as if someone had cranked the volume down around her. The colours dulled and blurred; the pictures lost focus, and then, as her back connected with the cement pavement of the road, there was only pain.

"-an ambulance! Fuck fuck _fuck - _Lupin, honey, can you hear me? Look at me, okay?"

"Oh my God! Did you see what happened - ?!"

"Can you hear me?"

"He drove off! Did you get the license plate of that car?"

"Stay awake, Lupin-,"

"I'm calling the cops now-,"

"Honey, come on, don't you fucking shut your eyes-,"

_Ahh, little ningen. _A voice, different from the others. _You're in trouble again. _

Nothingness.

* * *

Dun dun duuun! Le gasp! How ever shall Lupin survive?!

Hint: She can see dead people. Er, one at least.

TBC.


End file.
